Heating apparatus.



N. B. WALES.

HEATING APPARATUS.

I APPLICATION FILED APR. 10, 1911. 1,077,379, Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

ESEEETS-SHBET 1.

IVJTNESSES:

awo/m N. B. WALES. HEATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION nun) APR. 10, 1911.

htented NM. 4, 1913.

Z SHBETSEHEBT 2.

WITNESSES.- @W/m MfW NATHANIEL B. WALES, 0F BOSTON, MASSAGHUSETTS.

HEATINE- APPilEATUS.

Specification of Letters Hetent.

Patented Nov. 3;, .i 913.

To all whom 2'5 may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHANIEL B. Walrus, a citizen of the United States,residing at Boston, in the county of Sufiolk, State of Massachusetts,have invented a new and use ful Improvement in Heating Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a specification, refrencc being had therein tothe accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to a heating appa-' ratusin which products ofcombustion un der forced draft are utilized as the heats conveying orcirculating medium or for heating the heat-conveying or circulatingfluid and in which a hot-air engine operated by the products ofcombustion is employed for maintaining the forced. draft of the productsof combustion or the circulating medium or both.

It has long been recognized that present methods of heating utilize to avery low degree of cfiiciency the heat units present in products ofcombustion, and that the greater portion of these units pass up thechimney and are wasted. This is especially true of heating systemsadapted for house installation. Various systems of heating have beendevised, however, having a larger percentage of cfiiciency but thesesystems have never been adapted for use on a small scale, that is, foruse in house installation, because of high first cost and high operatingcost, as well as the skilled attention required in operating them. "Sofar as I am informed, no system has heretofore been devised whichutilizes to a very high degree of efficiency the heat units present inthe products of combustion and which is at the same time adapted for useon any scale. The most eilicient devices in use are based on themechanical fan system which admitted to be the ideal system because ofits combined heating and ventilating facilities 5Q the heat units butsuch a' system requires electrical or steam power and skilled attendanceand therefore has been beyond the reach of the ordinary householder.

The principal object of the invention is to utilize to the greatestdegree of eiiiciency present in products of combustion and to accomplishthis end irrespective of the size and operative scope or the, heatingapparatus.

A further important object is to'utilize the heat units present inproducts of combustion both for heating purposes and for operating-themechanism necessary to main tain the circulation of the heat-conveyingmedium and to accomplish this purpose without afiecting, to anyappreciable degree, the efiiciency of the products of combustion as aheating medium.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a heating systemwhich is simple and compact in construction and of low initial cost,which is simple and to a large extent automatic in operation and doesnot require skilled attendance and which can be operated economicallyand at low cost and therefore which is especially adapted for houseinstallation.

A further object is to provide for so controlling the rate of combustionthat any de sired temperature may be automatically maiutained in theT0015 or spaces to be heated.

Another object of the ivide for so controlling the products of com- 1bustion that at any predetermined speed of the hot-air engine, the flowof the products of combustion is directed either into the ex- ;haust orthrough the heating system and uti- Elized for heating purposes.

Other objects of the invention will be :more specificall described andset forth 5 hereinafter. The various features of the invention ma gbeembodied in systems in which the pro jucts of combustion are distributedthroughjout the system and employed as the heatconveying or circulatingmedium; or in systems in which the products of combustion are employedfor the purpose of raising the temperature of the hcatconvcying orcirculating medium; that is, in what are termed in the art as direct andindirect systems respectively.

A brief statement of the best mode of applying my invention is asfollows: A sultablc combustion chamber is provided for generatingproducts of combustion which Bare then led through suitable fines orcon- "duits into a stack heater in case the inveninvention is to prolionis applied to the indirect system of ply conduit Within which isarranged a fan.

or blower to insure a forced circulation l s throughout thev systemwhether it be direct or indirect. To operate the fan or blower, ahot-air engine is arranged with its hotair cylinder Within and itscooling cylinder.

nected to a jacket surrounding the cooling cylinder of the hot-airengine and thereby supplies a constant current of cool atniospheric airunder a forced blast to reduce the temperature of the cooling cylinderand thereby greatly increases and maintains the efficiency of theengine. I The air in passing through the jacket surrounding the coolingcylinder is raised in temperature and is then directed through asuitable conduit and used, in the direct system of heating, to reducethe temperature of the products of combustion to a practical Workingbasis or, in the indirect system, as the circulating or heat conveyingfluid. When used in the latter systcn'i the air is passed around theexterior of a stack and raised to the desired temperature before beingdistributed to the rooms or spaces to be heated. The flow of air intothe combustion chamber is automatically controlled by the temperature ofthe rooms o paces to be heated; being increased when the tempera-tarefalls be'iow a predclcrmincd point and decrc: "(l when it rises abovethat point. hleans are also proi'idcd whereby the products ol. combustion are automatically shut oil from the ex haust and directed throughthe boating system when the engine attains a predetcrmiiicd speed.

in the drawings illustrating one embodiment of the in-rcntioii, Figure lis a side cloi'alion, partly in section, of a healing apparatusroiislruclcd and controlled in ac- ;'oi-daiu-c with .my invention: Fig.2. is a plan view ol' the same: Fig. 21 isan cud clci'alion. partly insection, looking 'l'z'oni lrl't to iighl: Fig. -l is a .srrlioual virw.partly in elevation. of the arraiigcinciit'ol' the lines when thinvention is applicd lo a direct srslcin of heal ng; Fig. :"i is adiagrammatic view of the inrrhanism for contr lling the supply of air tothe combustion chamber;

Figs. (3 and 7 are detailed views of a portion of the inchanisii'i.'controlling the flow oi. the. products of ((iliil)li$-li(illfrom the combustion chamber.

in the illustrated -:nbodinicut of tho iii- .veiitioii is shown asuitable healer having system is used or to a system of radiators orheaters (not shown) when the direct system is employed. In Fig. 1 of thedrawings the combustion chamber is shown connected to a stack 12 withina casing.13 the outlet end 14 of the stack being connected to theexhaust flue 10. In Fig. 4-, showing the arrangement in a direct system,the outlet flue 11 is designed to be connected by suitable conduits toradiators or heaters in the rooms or spaces to be heated.

' The supply of air required by the system is preferably drawn from theatmosphere through a supply conduit 15 by a fan or blower (not shown)within a casing 16 Sup ported on a base 17, which fan or blowermaintains the circulation throughout the system whether it be direct orindirect.

For the purpose of operating the fan or blower in an economical manner,I provide a hot-air engine working on some embodi- 'ment of theso-called Carnot cycle, preferably of the Stirling or Rider-Ericssontype,

and so arranged with respect to the combustion chamber that it isoperated by the heat generated and present in the products of icombustion without affecting their etiieiency as a heating medium. Tothis end, as illustrated, a hot-air engine is provided, having a hot-aircylinder 18 set in the heater with the lower portion of the cylinderwithin the-com bastion chamber and subjected to the heat generated inthe products of combustion. coolingcylinder 19 is supported outside ofthe heater and surrounded by a jacket 20 adapted, in the constructionshown in the drawings to be cooled by air at the atnursphcrictemperature forced through a pipe E21. from the. supply pipe 15 by thefan i or blower. The cooling cylinder is provided with tins 522 toaccelerate the cooling process. Within the cylinders 18 and 19 ariarranged pistons 333 and 52'! operating cranks l5 and .lii re pectivelyand thereby a. lly-whccl l? on a shaft 28 mounted in suitable bearings:39 :--'uppoi'tfcd by brackets 230 on a cross-piece 'il connecting thetwo cylinders. wheel is conn cted by a. bell 3E2 lo a pulley 2 .3 on thesli'il't ill of the fan or lil(i\\'(i' the ut r end ol' the slia itbeing sup i rl'cd by a braclict I15. and thereby the tan, or blower isoperated by the hot-air engine.

In order to utilize the heat, given up by the cooling cylinder ot'" thehot-air engine, the

airwhich passes into and through the jacltct surri'nmding lliccoolingcylinder is directed through a. conduit. Ill; and employed inwhole or in part. as the circulating or li(;tl,-(. ill\"(.yingiiu diuin.Where the indirect system is used, the conduit .36. opens into. thestack casing I", (see Fig. l) and the :i li tili'iady raised intcnipcral'urc,in the cooling j'aclv'cl. is forced into and passesthrough the stack casing where its temperature is raised to the desircdextent. After passing out of the stack new,

with a damper 38 to regulate the mixture of air and products ofcombustion and thereby the temperature of the heat-conveying me dium.

The supply oi air to the combustion chamher to maintain combustion,flows through a pipe 39 from the fan casing and entersv the base of theheater passing up through the grate 40, the volume of the air beingcontrolled by a damper 41. This damper may be operated by hand ifdesired but E prefer to provide means for operating it automaticallyaccording to the requirements of the system. In the drawings the wellknown Powers regulator is shown to accomplish this result but any otherautomatic control may be employed in this connection. In the illustrateddevice, the damper 41 is provided with an arm 42 pivotally con nected toone end of rod 43 the other end of which is in contact with a diaphragm44 mounted within a casing 45. The casing is connected by apipet-(S witha thermostat l? and thermometer 48, the pipe, casing and thermostatbeing filled with ,a liquid having a low'boiling point. Normally thedaznper'is fully opened but when the temperature of the space tooeheated rises to apredetermined point the liquid in the ther- 'mostatbegins to boil and thereby generates additional pressure in the casingl5 which moves the rod through the medium of the diaphragm to partiallyclose the damper ll checking the rate of combustion within the'combustion chamber. As soon as the temperature falls below thepredetermined point the pressure on the diaphragm is'diminished and therod 43 is returned to normal position and the damper opened. To insurethe return of the rod a spring so is mounted on the rod and held betweena bracket and an adjustable collar 51 onthe rod. When the rod isoperated to close the damper, the spring is compressed, and upon thereturn of the diaphragm to normal position, the spring 19 forces the rodagainst the diaphragm and opens the damper.

To increase the elliciency of my apparatus and, to utilize the heatunits which radi- I ate through the heater it is provided with aradiation chamber 52 having a grille 53 (see Fig. 5) which admits airfrom the pipe 3%).

as The air so admitted flows through the radiaprevent tion chamber andinto the outlet" due 11 through an opening 7 and mixes with the productsof combustion, thereby toning down the temperature of the products ofcombustion but increasing their volume and utilizing the heat unitsordinarily wasted through radiation. if at any time it is undesirable toadd this volume 0t .air to the products of combustion, the grille 53 maybe closed and the air in the radiation chamber becomes stagnant and actsas an insulatorto chamber.

For the successful operation of the apparatus it is preferable that theexhaust fiue l0 and the outlet due 11 should be so controlled that whenone is open the other is closed and any suitable means may be employedto accomplish this result. ()ne such means is shown in the drawings andcomprises two dampers 5st and 55 arranged wi hin the exhaust due and theoutlet flue respectively and connected by a rod 56, one being open andthe other closed. Normally the exhaust is open and outlet closed. Thisrod may be manipulated by hand or automatically as desired. In thepresent case, I have provided mechanism whereby it may be operated toclose the exhaust flue and open the outlet flue when the hot-air engineattains a certain predetermined speed and to return the dampers tonormal position whenever the engine falls below that speed. Thismechanism'is as follows. A collar 57 is loosely mounted on the shaft 28and provided with two annular cam paths'58. Upon the fly-wheel 27 arepivotally mounted two weights 59 which are capable of radial .movementonly in relation to the fly-wheel and are connected together by springs60. When the flywheel revolves the weights are thrown out 'ardly againstthe tension of the springs. One of the weights carries a fixed arm .61the end of which. engages one of thecam-paths on the collar 57 and whenthat weight is thrown out radially by the revolution or the fly-wheel,the arm (31 moves the collar 57 longitudinally on the shaft.

D11 the adjacent support 30 is pivotally mounted a bell-crank lever 62one end of which is pivotally connected to the rod 56 by a link 63 (seeFigs. (3 and 7) and the other end engages the other cam-path 58 on thecollar 57, whereby the longitudinal movement of the collar moves the rod56 to operate the dampers 5i and to close the exhaust inc and to openthe outlet due. The tension of thesprings determines the speed of thehot-air engine which is required to operate the dampers and the bearing29 limits the longitudinal movement of the collar 57 to prevent thedampers being" turned too far when the engine is running at high speed.

The rod 56 is so connected to the link (33 that it may be disengagedtherefrom by radiation from the combustion withdrawing a pin 6st mountedwithin a stud 65 on the link, the pin being held in operative positionby a spring 66.

The end of the rod 56 is provided with a longitudinal slot 67- and therod may be so connected to the link 63 "hat the pin 6st engages theslot; (57 which permits the link to be moved without operating the rod.The latter is further provided with a handle 68 to permit it to he movedby hand to set the dampers in. any desired position.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: A tire is started in thecombustion chamber for the purpose of generating the products ofctnnlmstiou. After the fire ias been properly ignited the heat generatedstarts the. hot'air engine, thereby operating the fan or blower to startand maintain the circulation throughout the system. in the beginning theproducts of combustion are directed through the exhaust flue, but whenthe Speed o t' the engine attains a certain predetermined point, thedampers in the ex- 'haust fine and outlet tine are automaticallyoperated by the weights on the flywheel to direct the products ofcombustion through the outlet. flue into a stack heater if the indi rootsystem is used, or into the heating tem if a direct. system is employed.By adjusting the various parts of the apparatus, it. may be made tofullil all the requirements of the particular system in which it is usedand after being so adjusted it may be run indefinitely by merelysupplying" the heater with fuel ntafessary to maintain combustion.

An important feature of my invention resides in tho-means employed forcooling the air in the hot air engine. The ellirieney of the hot-airengine depends largely upon the difference of the temperature betweenthe hot-air cylinder and the cooling cylinder, or between the hot airend of the cylinder and thecoolingendof lhecylinder where one cylinderonly is provided and in the present. case. by using a l'orrrd blast ofair of atmospheric temperature, l am enabled to lteep the coolingportion of the hot air engine at; a very low temperature and therebygreatly increase its rllirienry. .\t the same time, by utilizing the airemployed for this. purmse as the circulating medium .in the healingsystem. I saw all the heat. given out by the cooling end ol the hot airentriue aml use it to raise the temperature of the circulating medium..\s a result. no heat energy is wasted beyond the amount which istransformed into kinetic energy in the operation of the hol air engine.

Although I have shown and described an embodiment of my inventionincluding a hot-air engine provided with two cylinders, I do not wish tobe limited to that particular emistrurtion, as any form of hot-airengine may be used with slight changes of construrtion. in some cases itmay be desirornet/o for forcing the circulation throughout the systemare operated in the main supply pipe through which the supply of airnecessary to the operation of the apparatus is drawn from theatmosphere. The forcing means may be arrangedatother points in thesystem and the circulation of the air may be in duced, rather thanforced, but t is preferable to employ the arrangement shown in thedrawings for the reason that the volume of air handled by the fan is ofa low temperature, that. is. the temperature of the outside air and thisfact contributes to the wearing qualities and life of the fan. A fanused for handling heated bodies of is very liable to become overheatedand de :lop friction and wear out the moving par s rapidly.

It is further to be observed that my heating apparatus is simple andcompact and, therefore. is especially adapted for house installation. Itis simple in operation and (an be operated at a low cost because itsefficiency due to the utilization of a very large proportion of the heatgenerated by combustion, reduces materially the amount of fuel necessaryto produce desired results.

It. is further well adapted for house installat ion because of itssafety. There is no possibility of high pressure being generated and nodanger of overheating of the tines, irrespective of the manner in whichthe apparatus is handled.

The ventilating feature of this system is of great importance as itpositively supplies a constant amount of fresh heated air.

Tn this application the invention is claimed broadly, the specificconstruction be ing described and claimed in another application'tiledby me March (lth, 1911, Serial No. (312,518, to which reference may bemade. I

My invention may be embodied in various other constructions and it isnot my intention to limit my invention to the exact construction shownin the drawings and here inbet'ore described.

What I claim is V H 1. A. heating system" in which air is utilized asthe h'eat-conveyingorcirculatingmedium comprising means for heating saidme dium, a. hot-air engine operated by said heating means, meansoperated by said hotsaid air throughout said system, and means forutilizing said air for cooling the cooling end of said hot.-air enginebefore said air is heated by said heating means that Silt 12% air enginetor forcing the circulation of use as the circulating or heat-conveyingmedium.

2. A heating system in which air is utilized as the heat-conveying orcirculating medium comprising a combustion chamber for heating saidmedium, a hot-air engine operated by the heat generated in saidcombustion chamber, means operated by said hot-air engine for forcingthe circulation of said air throughout said system, and means forutilizing said air for cooling the cooling end of said hot-air enginebefore said air is heated by said heating means for use as thecirculating or heat-conveying medium.

3. A heating system inwhich air is utilized as the heat-conveying orcirculating medium comprising means for heating said 'medium,.a hot-airengine operated by said heating means, a fan operated by said hotairengine for forcing the circulation of said air throughout said system,and means for utilizing said air for cooling the cooling end of saidhot-air engine before said air is heated by said heating means for useas the ci1= culating or heat-conveying fluid.

4. A heating system in which air is utilized as the heat-conveying orcirculating medium comprising means for heating said medium, a hot-airengine operated by said heating means, means operated by said hotairengine for forcing the circulation of said air throughout said system,and means for utilizing said air at atmospheric temperature for coolingthe cooling end of said hotair engine before said air is heated by saidheating means for use as the circulating or heat-conveying medium.

5. A heating system in which air is utilized as the heat-conveying orcirculating medium comprising a combustion chamber for heating saidmedium, a hot-air engine operated 'by the heat generated in saidcombustion chamber, a fan operated by said hotair engine for forcing thecirculation of said air throughout said system, and means for utilizingsaid air for cooling the cooling end of said hotair engine before saidair is heated by said combustion chamber for use as the circulating orheat-conveying fluid.

6. A heating system comprising heat-distributing means in combinationwith a combustio'n chamber having two outlets, one connected to saidheat-distributing means and the other adaptedto be connected to anexhaust flue, means for cont-rolling said outlets, means for forcing thecirculation of the products of combustion from said combustion chamberand a hot-airengine operated by the heat generated inf'said combustionchamber for operating said controlling means and said forcing means.

v 7 A heating system comprising heat-distributing means in combinationWith a combustion chamber having two outlets, one connected to saidheat-distributing means and the other adapted to be connected to anexhaust flue, means for controlling said outlets, means for forcing thecirculation of the products of combustion from said combustion chamberand a h0tair engine operated by said heat generated in said combustionchamber for operating said controlling means When said hot-air engineattains a predetermined speed and for operating said forcing means.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand, in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses, thisthe fifth day of April, 1911.

NATHANIEL B. WALES.

l/Vitnesses K. C. UNIAC, E. F. UNIAC-

